Romney’s Consideration of Candidacy Is Closely Tied to His Faith, Allies Say

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/us/politics/romneys-consideration-of-candidacy-is-closely-tied-to-his-faith-allies-say.html?_r=0

By ASHLEY PARKER and ALEX THOMPSON
JAN. 25, 2015



Mitt Romney praying at the beginning of a campaign rally in Elko, Nev., in February 2012. Mr. Romney is expected to bring his faith more to the forefront if he runs again for the presidency. Credit Max Whittaker for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — A prominent Republican delivered a direct request to Mitt Romney not long ago: He should make a third run for the presidency, not for vanity or redemption, but to answer a higher calling from his faith.

Believing that Mr. Romney, a former Mormon pastor, would be most receptive on these grounds, the Republican made the case that Mr. Romney had a duty to serve, and said Mr. Romney seemed to take his appeal under consideration.

Three years ago, Mr. Romney’s tortured approach to his religion — a strategy of awkward reluctance and studied avoidance that all but walled off a free-flowing discussion of his biography — helped doom his campaign. (The subject is still so sensitive that many, including the prominent Republican, would only discuss it on condition that they not be identified.)

But now as Mr. Romney mulls a new run for the White House, friends and allies said, his abiding Mormon faith is inextricably tied to his sense of service and patriotism, and a facet of his life that he is determined to embrace more openly in a possible third campaign.

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